Democracy Now! reports that Los Zetas mass-murdered 27 people on a drug dealer’s ranch in Guatemala. Los Zetas used to be centered on Mexico: now their reach extends beyond that nation’s borders. One wonders what they’re doing in the USA, if this sort of thing is going on in Guatemala.

I’ll tell you: drug dealing concentrates money very quickly. The concentration of money leads to economic and political power. Simple as that. Of course, Los Zetas can’t just sit on their money: they have to launder it, and that means it hits the banking system.

Money laundering is the third biggest industry in the world, by some estimates. That makes the global banking system something that goes hand in hand with the drug cartels. It’s not just the cartels that make money off of drugs: banks got some skin in that game, as well. That means the influence of drug money and drug power can be exerted by the banks in addition to the cartels. This stuff reaches to the highest levels.